Below is a repost of an article that I published back in 2005. The old one is now offline for technical reasons.

Recently I’ve stumbled upon a set of easy exercises that are called ‘Hermes gymnastics’. The actual referred person is Hermes Trismegistus, who is believed to have been highest priest in Ancient Egypt. He is credited with writing a great number of books, of which only 3 seem to have survived till our days.

Anyway, there’s a set of easy daily exercises which are called on his name. They are somewhat popular in russian literature on such topics but I’ve found no reference to them in the English world. I will translate them for English, maybe for the first time in print.

I’ve been doing these exercises for several weeks now, every morning and in the evenings, after work. I find them very easy to perform and yet they make me feel much better every time I do them and they seem to raise my energy levels (which is the exercises’ original intent).

The practice of the exercises can be divided into 4 parts. Two of them are the actual exercises and the other two are complementary.

The first part. Warm up.

This should performed before the exercises in morning. It consists of warming up, better by running for 5 to 20 minutes. You can run on the spot, if you’re doing them at home. If you’re doing the exercises in the evening, this can be skipped.

The second part. Power exercises.

This is a set of three exercises which energize the body. Some common notes on power exercises set:Each exercise consists of:

Relaxed position.

Short and forceful inhalation through the nose (giving an air strike on the throat). In that time the described position is reached with maximum speed and the whole body muscles should be tightened as much as possible.

While all the muscles are tight, hold breath for 4 seconds. After a year or so of practice, this time can be increased to 6 seconds. More than that is harmful.

Exhale all the air at once through the mouth making the ‘Ha’ sound as air exits. At the same time relax all the muscles as fast as possible and return to the relaxed position.

Breath normally for 4 seconds.

Notes: The change from the relaxed state to the tense should be as fast as you can. Gradually progress with your training. The synchronization of breathing with the movements is very important for maximum benefit. Exercises should be performed with eyes closed and concentration on movement and breathing.

Now to the exercises themselves:

1. Exercise ‘Cross’

Short, powerful breath in. At the same time, clench fists, raise tense arms and move them behind the back on the shoulders height, throw back the head and arch the body. Tighten all the muscles of your body in this position. Hold breath for 4 seconds.

Exhale fast and fully through the mouth, bend the body forward, hands relaxed down, almost reaching the floor. Shake the hands crossed for better relaxation and return to the original position. Relax fully for 4 seconds. Free breathing.

Repeat the exercise 4 times.

2. Exercise ‘Axe’

Instantly grip palm together, finger crossed, like holding an axe, take a fast, short breath. At the same time straighten the back, raise the hands from the right side behind the back, like swinging an axe. Arch the back as much as possible and drop the head back. Tighten muscles. Hold breath for 4 seconds.

Forceful exhale through the mouth and with a powerfull turn through the left side return to the original position. Body is bent forward, palms apart. Relax for 4 seconds.

Perform the exercise 4 times. Two as described, and the other two in the opposite direction (switch left and right).

3. Exercise ‘Disc thrower’

Short breath in, clench fists, throw the right hand forward and take the left behind, turning the body in the direction of the imagined throw, eyes turning with the motion. Hold the position of the disc thrower. Tighten all the muscles in the body. Hold breath and position for 4 seconds.

Exhale fast through the mouth and return to the original position. Relax fully for 4 seconds.

Perform 4 times: two times as described, then switch hands.

Third part.

These exercises distribute energy into all muscles of the body. These are mostly the same exercises as in part 2 but they are to be performed slowly, with no tension in order to discharge previously tense muscles and charge those that didn’t participate. The breathing is deep. Perform exercises in accordance with the breathing described below.

First exercise.

Inhale through the nose for 4 seconds. At the same time spread the hands to the sides on shoulder level. Hold your breath for 4 seconds. Move the hands farther behind back.

Exhale through the mouth for 4 seconds and at the same time slowly return the hands into original position.

Repeat 4 times.

Second exercise.

Stand with feet a little spread. Bend body forward, touching toes with your fingers. The knees are not bent.

Inhale for 4 seconds while straightening the body, stretching hands forward on the breast level. Hold your breath for 4 seconds. At the same time raise the hands above the head and behind the back.

Exhale through the mouth for 4 seconds and at the same time slowly return into original position.

Repeat 4 times.

Third exercise.

Stand straight. Spread the feet about half a meter. Hands stretched to the sides on the shoulders level.

Inhale for 4 seconds and hold the breath for 4 seconds. At the same time turn the body right with the hands still stretched to the sides so, that you’ll see the wall behind you. Do not raise the feet of the floor.

Exhale through the mouth for 4 seconds and at the same time slowly return into original position.

Repeat 4 times: 2 times to the right, 2 to the left.

Forth exercise.

Lie on your back. Put both palms with finger crossed below the head.

Inhale for 4 seconds and at the sime raise the feet 90 degrees. Hold the breath for 4 seconds and at the same time perform 2 circular motions with the feet to the right.

Exhale for 4 seconds and slowly return the feet on the floor.

Repeat 4 times: two times turning the feet to the right, 2 times to the left.

Forth part. Stabilization.

This is reached by taking shower switching from cold to hot water every 2 minutes. The contrast of the water should be increasing over time. After three months reach its maximum and stay at that level. Always start with cold water and finish with hot. The first 4 months the timing is 2 minutes for hot cold and hot showers. On the fourth months – 3 minutes and then 4 minutes each.

I hope you will follow the advice and perform the exercises and I promise you will feel better during the day and in the long term.

In 2006 I wrote a short article about Prahlad Jani, an Indian yogi who claims he can live without eating or even drinking. The news at that time were driven by another alleged “breatharian”, Ram Bahadur Bamjan, then a 16 year old boy, who was meditating for six months at that time. ﻿

Recently, Prahlad Jani returned to the major news after he was again under a 15-day surveillance in a hospital to verify his claims of not eating and drinking.﻿

There are many sources about the latest tests. Here are some links to learn more:

Prahlad Jani, 83, who says he has not had a bite to eat for 70 years, was put under constant surveillance to test his astonishing claims by a team of 30 military medical staff.

During a 15 day stay in a hospital in the city of Ahmedabad, India — he astounded doctors by not eating, drinking or going to the bathroom.

The person claims to not have eaten for 70 years. That’s quite a hard claim to swallow, frankly. A 15-day surveillance sounds good but the suspicious fact here is that the 2003 study and this one were conducted by the same hospital in Ahmedabad, the Sterling hospital. I think it was even the same crew leading researcher, Dr. Sudhir Shah.

What is new this time is that 1) the test was longer (15 days and not 10) and 2) that the study initiated by India’s Defense Research and Development Organization (DRDO). I hope they’re not as naïve as to let the hospital run the test without overseeing it themselves.

So, it is interesting news and it would be better, more reliable, if this man was tested by some western hospital, to reduce the chance of fraud by co-operating.

There’s a documentary movie, released in 2009, called “The Living Matrix
”. As some other movies in the field before, it is a mix of documentary, interviews and computer graphics. The movie’s focus is what’s called energy or alternative medicine.

The movie interviews a list of notable guests, some of whom appeared in other movies, such as What the Bleep!? and my recently reviewed Something Unknown. The list of guests include:

Fritz-Albert Popp, PhD – Biophysicist, professor, researcher, founder of the Institute of International Biophysics, and author of “About the Coherence of Biophotons”

8 more guests from the field of alternative medicine

The movie also includes numerous stories told by people who recovered from difficult diseases using alternative medicine and the power of intention.

The movie presents of picture where the human is body is described not only being controlled by chemicals and DNA but also by our intentions, intra-cellular communication in the form of biophotons and other effects that are on the fringe of science. It does not speak about parapsychology, or psi as “Something Unknown” movie by Renée Scheltema does.

If you are interested in the alternative medicine, especially in finding scientific explanations to some of its possible explanations of effectiveness, I can recommend “The Living Matrix
”.

I’ve recently published my review of a documentary called “Something Unknown is doing we don’t know what”. The film researches the evidence behind the “Big Five” psi phenomena and I liked it greatly. Take a peek at my review for some more info. Today I’m glad to present you my interview with Renée Scheltema, the filmmaker and producer of Something Unknown (link to my review of the movie). Despite this being my 15th interview that I publish here on the site, this is the first one that I did live, using Skype. Please excuse our accents and non-professionalism. Also, I’d like to remind you that Renée and I opened a forum to discuss "Something Unknown" and its topics. Renée is going to be there as well to discuss it with you. In fact, she had already posted a short welcome message there. So come over and join us at forum.mind-energy.net. It’s right near the Skeptiko podcast forum, which you should also participate in, in my opinion. We had a very conversational tone with Renée and the interview starts right in the middle of a sentence.

You can read the redacted transcript below or listen to the audio using the player below or download the MP3 directly.

Renée Sceltema: …I hear what you’re saying because Professor Tart, he told me there’s actually – you could call it the “Big Seven.” But then there are two in the “maybe” category. And one is mediums, you know, talking to dead people which – that’s scientifically you can’t prove that. I investigated it but somehow there’s a reasoning that goes in circles. So I didn’t complete it. And then the other in the “maybe” category is near-death experiences.

Jacob: I actually wanted to ask you about these, as well.

Renée Sceltema: I researched it a little bit and then because Professor Tart said it’s in the “maybe” category I decided not to include these – the film was already very full as it was with information. Couldn’t get that in, as well.

Jacob: I see. Could you tell us a bit more about yourself and why you decided to make this film?

Renée Sceltema: Okay, that’s in the film. I had those psychic experiences and I wanted to know whether I was deluding myself. I sort of knew that parapsychologists were doing research on this kind of stuff, but I hadn’t kept up. I’m not a “woo-woo” kind of person who believes all this stuff. Actually I don’t believe a lot of it.

But on the other hand, the first experience with my father was very strong. I guess in scientific terms you call it “crisis telepathy.” It happened when I was studying at the University of California, Berkeley, during the day. I would call my parents every three months. I had just phoned my parents a few days before. While I was with my nose in the books, there was this strong force that told me that I had to get up and phone them again. I remember walking down the street thinking: ‘This is weird. Why am I walking to the phone booth? There’s no reason for this. It’s the wrong time of the day.’

Then when I phoned, my brother picked up the phone, which is very unusual because he had left home and would never even pick up the phone. Then he told me my father had had a stroke and was fighting for his life at the intensive care. So that seared into my mind because I just picked up something there that was real and I guess it’s part of our survival instinct, no?

In Christianity, all these psychic experiences they call it “from the Devil” and it’s not been too long since they burned witches. And so according to this belief system all these psychic things are all thrown into one corner together with the witches and the weird soothsayers.

Long before that time, when we were living as Bushmen or Aboriginals, there would always be the Shaman who was capable of reaching beyond our minds; capable of doing these kinds of things. For them it was normal. So it’s only been in the past couple of centuries that psychic experiences have been suppressed.

I read a book long ago about Mutant Message Down Under, a beautiful book about an American woman who lives with the Aboriginals. She notes down what they experienced. They could heal; see remote view kangaroos, etc, just because it was just the only way to go.

So I guess it’s part of our survival instinct. So I didn’t regard it as abnormal when I had this experience with my sick father. I just thought, ‘Yeah, that makes a lot of sense.’

Also I guess, I’m at a certain age where I felt confident enough to tackle this kind of subject. I don’t think I would dare to make this film 25 years ago.

Jacob: Okay, it is also written there that you started to work on the film about 10 years ago. Why did it take so long?

Recently I have had the pleasure of seeing the DVD of a new movie called Something Unknown is doing we don’t know what…. This is an indie documentary filmed by Renée Scheltema that explores the science behind psychic phenomena. The award-winning movie, which was released in late 2009, is the best documentary that I’ve seen to date on this subject. Stay with me for a more detailed review of the film.

There are several things to like about Something Unknown, if you’re serious about learning more about ESP and psychic phenomena. First, the movie mostly focuses on interviewing and showing the work of the leading scientists in parapsychology, such as Dr. Dean Radin (Chief scientist of the Institute of Noetic Sciences, showing presentiment experiment), Dr. Rupert Sheldrake (biologist, talks about telepathic dogs, and telephony telepathy) and Professor Charles Tart, who guided Renée through the film and many more. Other names include Professor Gary Schwartz, Dr. Roger Nelson, Dr. Hall Puthoff, Dr. Edgar Mitchell, Dr. David Dosa and more. In short, the “casting” couldn’t be better.

Secondly, it shows these scientists in their homes or working environments, which is much more interesting than seeing them talking in “sterile” studios, which is what other movies that I’ve seen do. This adds an additional personal dimension to the experience of watching it.

.

Thirdly, the movie focuses on the “Big 5” psi phenomena, meaning the best 5 fields of parapsychological research which Professor Tart sees as having good evidence. These are: telepathy, clairvoyance, remote viewing, psychokinesis (telekinesis) and psychic healing. The film doesn’t talk at all about less researched areas such as mediumship or near-death experience (NDE).

It took Renée almost 10 years to shoot and edit this film, funding it from her own money, which says a lot about her determination and serious approach to this endeavor. She decided to go on this journey after having a couple of unexplainable experiences herself. I liked the movie so much that I asked Renée to let me interview her for Mind-Energy. I’m glad to tell that I’ve recorded the interview and will post it in a couple of days. So stay tuned.

What else is in the film? She met with Dr. Jack Houck, the organizer of PK parties and she also accompanied him to one of them. These are the famous PK parties which he holds in the US, where people bend spoons. Spoon bending is a thread throughout the film, being used to connect the various parts of it, although it’s not a scientific subject by itself.

There’s footage from Brazil of psychic surgeries, there are shots from other healing events and places. You see introductions about such projects such as Global Consciousness Project and Remote Viewing from the first hands, from the scientists themselves.

The film is 105 minutes long and is available on DVD in NTSC and PAL format. You can learn more about the film and purchase it on its official site.

With collaboration with Renée we’ve added a dedicated discussion forum for Something Unknown and its topics at Mind-Energy forums. Please join us in discussing it with Renée and other viewers.

The following article was sent to me by Buryl Payne in early 2009 but somehow I’ve only now got to publish it. I’m also putting the original PDF file that he sent me, which is better formatted. Buryl seems to be heavily into research of Biofield or what he calls “Spin Force”. The article discusses one of his experiments with remote healing.

A force around the human body different from electric, magnetic, gravitic, photic, or thermal has previously been discovered and was used in this research. Originally called a ‘biofield’ and now called a ‘spin force’, it was found to vary in amplitude with lunar phase, solar activity, vitality of the subject and other factors. It was found to vary in amplitude with intended remote healing attempts. In 17 out of 20 trials in this pilot study, with healers from 50 to 3,000 miles distant, a clear change in amplitude of the spin force was observed.
Keywords: remote healing, subtle magnetism, biofield, spin force.

Introduction

It is known by experience that prayer and other means of visualization at a distance enhance healing, although no satisfactory explanation has been found to explain this effect. This study shows the operation of a different type of force may be involved. Called a spin force, torque, or rotational force, it is hypothesized to exist around all living organisms.

Biological spin force was accidentally discovered by the author while investigating ‘pyramid energy’ in 1976. The author’s device, called a Biofield Meter, displays a spin force when placed around an organism. It was found to exist around every human tested, a couple of plants, a grapefruit, watermelon, cat, dog and horse. Presumably it exists around all living organisms and its existence has been observed by other researchers. The amplitude of rotation of the Biofield Meter varies with solar and geomagnetic activity, changes direction temporarily at times of new and full moon and varies to some degree with the health of the subject.

Several researchers have observed some physiological changes in humans as a response to remote healing. Ron Hruby, a retired NASA electrical engineer, made his own version of the Biofield Meter and hypothesized that it might respond to distant healing attempts on a subject. He found this to be the case. In 18 trials with four subjects, he found 100% correlation of changes of the Biofield Meter amplitude of rotation with attempted healings by a small group ten miles distant from the subject.
This study expands upon the work of Ron Hruby, and attempts to verify his results while using variable distances between the healers and the subjects.

Materials and Methods
The Biofield Meter consists of a square frame, made of 0.25 inch diameter wood dowels, 16 in. on each side. Six ring magnets are centered on each dowel and 16 in. long strings are attached in the center of the six magnets on each dowel. The strings angle to a center where a set of two mirrors of 1.5 inch diameter are glued back to back. A hook and additional string is used to hang the apparatus over the subject’s head at eye level. The device looks roughly like a pyramid frame.

In practice, the Biofield Meter rotates a few degrees after being placed over a subject. Given an initial impulse, and because it is a string suspension, the torque on the string, or winding force, limits continuous rotational movement. It winds up and unwinds, in other words, oscillating back and forth for a few minutes. The number of degrees of initial rotation was used as a measure of spin force around the body.

This experiment was conducted in Santa Cruz, California. Twenty trials were conducted May to June, 2005. The first trial was completed with a small group of remote healers in Sheffield, Massachusetts, a distance of 3,000 miles from Santa Cruz. Three Biofield Meters were set up around three subjects. The subjects’ first names were supplied to the distant healers. The healers chose one subject for the healing attempt, which was unknown to the observer. A start time was determined for the healing attempt, and observation of the biofield meters began at that time. Movement of the three biofield meters were measured and recorded during the trial period. Following the trial period, the name of the chosen subject was revealed to the observer.
In addition to this initial trial, seventeen other remote healers were invited to attempt distant healing on one of two subjects chose by the experimenter. Seventeen subsequent trials involved one to three subjects and one to four remote healers. It was not feasible to repeat tests using multiple subjects as it was too difficult to coordinate them. Two more trials were conducted on a radio show called ‘Out of Time’ in Hot Springs, Arkansas. On this show the author invited the listening audience to attempt remote healing on a subject sitting next to him. There were two main subjects who where involved in most of the trials.

Results

In the first trial, one of the three Biofield Meters rotated more than 720 degrees, (more than 2 complete rotations). Later phone communication showed that this was the subject chosen for the healing attempt. The subject did not report any sensations or feelings at the time of the attempted healing or on the following days.

In seventeen out of twenty trials, the Biofield Meter showed deflections from about 3 degrees to four full turns (1440 degrees) around the subject chosen for healing. These seventeen included the trials involving the radio show audience.
No obvious ‘healing’ effects or sensations were observed by one of the two main subjects. The other subject felt sensations four times which resulted in some healing one time. In three trials where it was offered the remote healers correctly identified problem areas for one subject.

Discussion

In the 1980’s, the author’s initial observations of biofield amplitude used a different version of the Biofield Meter (heavier with more magnets) and showed rotations of only a few degrees. In this experiment the maximum observed was 1440 degrees. The lighter version of the Biofield Meter used in this experiment may be more sensitive than the heavier version.

This experiment shows remote healing at distances of up to 3,000 miles can be indicated by the Biofield Meter. However, the foregoing results need to be replicated with trials in which Biofield Meter rotations are measured more accurately. A scale or rotation counter, perhaps measured in 1/8 rotations would improve measurement.

Another factor to take into account would be the subjects own intrinsic biofield. A control measurement could be made where the subject would sit quietly for at least 5 minutes to allow the Biofield Meter to come to rest. In addition, it would be better to schedule experiments at times of quiet solar / geomagnetic field activity. This can now be predicted to about 70% accuracy. Solar flares can be predicted even more accurately.

Russian Scientists apparently discovered a similar force to that which is measured by the Biofield Meter. They called it a ‘Torsion field’ and did not notice that it was present around living organisms. One Russian researcher found possible evidence that torsion fields appear to propagate significantly faster than the speed of light. He designed a device which could detect the Torsion Field from stars and found that the effect was larger when he pointed his device at the place where the star would be today rather than where it was when the light left the star some time ago. This possible high velocity of spin field could be a factor in healing at a distance.

Theoretical revisions may need to be made as a result of this discovery, if it is verified. If the spin field travels much faster than light, this will require a slight revision in the explanations of electron spin experiments which have puzzled physicists for many years. Since the presence of a rotational force or torsion field can be easily verified by anyone in an hour or two by using a Biofield Meter, an expansion of some physics theories may be required.

From the results of this experiment, one can hypothesize that healers have a much greater influence on the biofield than other effects, such as phase of the moon, solar storms, the proximity of some planets, vitality of the subject, or willful intention of the subject (psychokinesis). Many studies can be made both on the biofield and on remote healing.

This experiment did not distinguish between non-healers (the radio audience) who focused on the subject or people who identified themselves as remote healers. One future study could be on the ability of an individual to affect the biofield of the subject simply by focusing their thought on the subject, without attempting to heal.

Conclusions

In summary this pilot study shows the ability of a simple instrument to detect spin force around humans and opens up a large variety of speculations and possible experiments. Several future studies should be conducted to expand this new area of research.

Acknowledgments

I would like to give many thanks to all the healers and subjects who freely donated their time and services to this project.

References

1. Payne B. A new device which detects and measures an energy field around the human body. American Journal of Acupuncture 1983; 11(4): 353-358.

I practice Qigong. "Qigong (or ch’i kung) is an internal Chinese meditative practice which often uses slow graceful movements and controlled breathing techniques to promote the circulation of qi within the human body, and enhance a practitioner’s overall health" – Wikipedia.

The specific style of Qigong that I practive is called YiQuan and we focus on health benefits of Qigong. I’ve been now practicing it for more than 3 years. I’ve written about my first YiQuan Qigong lesson in late 2006 and also a review of YiQuan almost a year later.

Unfortunately, there’s not much information about Qigong in English, espcially free information. There are some books, many translated book and it’s good. Lately, though, I’ve found a good Qigong podcast (audio, like a radio). This is a weekly podcast, with each episode about an hour long, which is available through Blog Talk Radio. The podcast is called "The Secrets of Qigong master" and you can listen to it on their site, download the sound files or subscribe using iTunes for automatic updates, which is what I do.

Listening to some of these episodes I found it fascinating how masters of different styles and schools share the same vision of Chi, the universe and health. Some of the questions and answers go deep into these issues which makes the interviews very interesting.

So, if you’re into energy practice, energy healing, internal martial arts, and especially if you practice some form of qigong, don’t pass on this fine podcast.

There’s a series of enrichment lectures at Google (the company) and they make them available for public viewing on YouTube. The lectures are not strictly technical and encompass a wide variety of topics with guest speakers.

The below video is of a lecture describing the basics of Oriental medicine practices, especially acupuncture and acupressure. There’s also specific attention to stress in traditional western medicine and in eastern.

In the second part, after the description, an eastern medicine doctor applies short acupunture treratment to some of the listeners and guides through a short relaxation meditation.

I’ll start with going over the structure of the book, chapter by chapter, and will conclude with my impressions of it.

In the preface Thomas tells that he started this project back in 1995 and worked on the manuscript for seven years. Several years later, in 2008 his son Clint was dying of cancer. Before he passed away Clint had promised his father to “keep in touch”. And he kept his promise. According to Walker, numerous anomalous and highly improbably events have happened later that year, described in the preface.

The book has 10 Chapters, each touching different aspect of parapsychology, spirituality or research.

The first chapter, titled “The Force – From Ch’i to Cosmological Constant and Beyond”, Walker starts with the Chinese concept of Ch’i (also spelled Qi), which is what chinese call the Life-force. Ch’i is believe to flow in the body, mainly through a system called meridians, which are highly relevant into Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM). He refers to 1960s research of Professor Kim Bong Han in which he identified a series of unknown ducts in the bodies of animals and people that followed the paths of acupuncture meridians. He later discovered 2 more networks of such ducts bring to greater interconnection of cells in the body. Later follows a story about how the knowledge of Qi was brought to the west in the 20th century and how it was tested in medical tests to be helpful. Following with some research that was done on Qi, he finishes with the research of Professor William Tiller of Stanford University in which he develops a new theory build upon Einstein’s cosmological constant.

Chapter 2 – New Dimensions: Perceptions beyond the Body – talks about Near Death Experiences (NDE), Out of Body Experiences (OBE), explains what psi and parapsychology is. Explains the main areas of psi research from its early history in late 19th century through the 20th, including detailed history of Stanford Research Institute (SRI) research into remote viewing, backed by CIA.

Chapter 3 – More Dimensions: The Body beyond the Body – tells about the more esoteric subject of human bodies beyond the physical, such as etherial, astral and further, based on Theosophy. Detailed history of Kirlian photography and its research is described.

Chapter 4 – Where Do We Go? Arguments for an Afterlife – delves deeper into the research of NDEs, reincarnation research by late Dr. Ian Stevenson. Wakers covers the subject of mediumship, both in history and in research, such as Gary Schwartz’s research. Ending the chapter a detailed story of the great magician Harry Houdini and Arthur Conan Doyle.

Chapter 5 – Paranormal Panache: Superstars of Psychokinesis – tells about the rarer macro-psychokinesis events, starting with 19th century Daniel David Home , who even performed for emperor Napoleon III and Tsar Alexander II, researched, and never found cheating. He was most known for his ability to levitate objects and even himself. Following is the story of Nina Kulagina, heavily researched Russian woman with strong psychokinetic abilities. Later follows the story of most controversial Uri Geller. The chapters ends with an overview of micro-PK research by PEAR, Dr. Dean Radin and others.

Chapter 6 – Magnetically Magnificent: Exploring the Human Energy Field – starts with Mesmer and his research into fluidum (the force) and animal magnetism. The story continues with Baron Karl von Reichenbach, a promising chemist, discoverer of paraffin who changed his career path to research magnetism in humans, which brought him conclusion similar to that of Mesmer that it’s not regular magnetism but other force, which he called the odic force. Next is the story of English physician Walter Kilner, who on the turn of 20th century, found that he could see energy field around living organisms with special equipment. The chapter ends with more recent research by William Tiller and Chinese Dr. Zheng.

Chapter 7 – Orgasmic Outcast: Was Wilhelm Reich Right? – tells the famous story of Austria-born Wilhelm Reich, physician, whose writings were burned thrice – by German Nazis, by Soviets and by US government. Follower and of Freud and even the director of his clinic in Vienna, Reich linked many health issues with the flow of psychic energy, which he called Orgone energy. He decided to research orgone theory. Thomas Walter tells in detail about the history of his research and his life, which ended in US Prison in 1957.

Chapter 8 – Healing the Rift: Alternative Medicine Arrives – gets into the details of many studies done in the 20th century, following the introduction of Chinese medicine and other alternative medicine practices in the west. Numerous studies showed the intent of healers, such a prayer or applications of the force, whatever it’s called, can greatly and positively affect organisms, including humans. Special attention is paid to Therapeutic Touch and to Chiropractic.

Chapter 9 – Schlock Science: Who Makes the Call? – tells about the difficulties that scientists who challenge the status-quo encounter on their way. Starting with Thomas Edison and his electric bulb invention, following the discovery of cold fusion by Martin Fleischmann and Stanley Pons. Then Walter talks about non-psi subject of Mars exploration and the Cydonia region research by Richard Hoagland and the lies of NASA regarding issues related to Mars research. The second half of the chapter leaves the “science” and goes on to describe the history of CSICOP (Committee for the Scientific Investigation of Claims of Paranormal), established in 1976 and now called Committee of Skeptical Inquiry (CSI), started by Ray Hyman, James Randi, Marcello Truzzi and others. CSI is claiming to be an investigating organization but it appears to be a dogmatic Skeptical organization which denies any possibility of psi, without a deep look into things.

Chapter 10 – A Path with Heart: The Way Back Home – argues that the heart plays a more central role in the humans than just pumping the blood. Thomas describes various studies that suggest that not everything is controlled by the brain and that some neurological functions are scattered through the body.

My impressions

Overall, I liked the book very much for several reasons. First, it is easy and fun to read. I simply enjoyed reading it, the text flowed smoothly. Secondly, I learned a lot of new stuff. Even though I thought I knew a lot about psi research, after reading such books as the Entangled Minds
by Dr. Dean Radin, I found a lot of subjects that I didn’t know about.

The book starts with the subject of Ch’i. Being a Qigong (Chi Kung) student myself for almost 3 years now, I tend to believe that there is something to it. I can relate to the fact that martial artists and Qigong masters can feel and “utilize” it.

The book goes over lots of subjects but has points where it goes deeper, telling about a specific person for several pages. So, even if I read about someone in short previously, I still found lots of new information.

Some might argue that the book is not scientific or that it doesn’t present the opposite point of view, i.e. criticisms of the studies. But having a chapter devoted to showing how science refuses to accept views that drastically differ from the status-quo and about the organized pseudo-skeptics, he clearly chose a side. I think it’s OK to write a book which shows what the author believes to be true. After all, there’s enough totally baseless criticism as well. And I also believe that the media and other establishments will much easier accept and transmit any skeptical argument, however vague, over a study proposing any psi effect.

In conclusion, I highly recommend the book to anyone who’s interesting in these areas of the paranormal or parapsychology which are presented in it. If you are a highly scientific person you’ll have 2 choices. Either skip the book or better yet, follow the studies present in the book (there is bibliography and notes) and try to read them yourself before deciding what’s right or wrong.

Does your head feel heavy sometimes? Maybe you are tired after driving or staring at TV or computermonitors?

Several years ago I’ve learned quite a simple technique that helps to alleviate the heaviness in head. It’s not a cure for any illness but it doesn’t require anything except a little time and healthy imagination. No drugs, even “alternative”, so, it won’t hurt you in anyway.

Like my advice on how to get rid of stuffy nose, which has helped hundreds or thousands of people, this will not work for everyone at all times but it’s sure worth to try. So let’s get started, because something is pushing on your head, right?

You can do it seated or standing up, but it’s better not to lie down. You’ll see why shortly.

Close your eyes and concentrate on the feeling in your head.

Try to imagine that the heaviness that pushes on your head is like a concrete block or like a manhole lid lying on your head and that’s why it feels so heavy – it is pushing on you with its weight.

Now, visualize a construction crane and imagine it lifting the lid off your head up and away. At this moment you should feel a little alleviation of the heaviness. The head should feel a little lighter for a moment. Don’t open your eyes and don’t loose concentration.

Most probably all or some of the “weight” will return very fast. So just repeat the lifting. Imagine pushing it away with your hands maybe or imagine the crane lifting it again.

If it works well, after some repetitions the weight should feel lighter. You may continue with this as long as you helps, probably a couple of minutes.

Be warned though that since this is a visualization based technique it won’t help you in cases where a real physical problem such as sinusitis causes your pain in the head. It’s not a cure for any illness. The technique is just a tool that can help you deal with the feeling of a heavy head, usually because of some fatigue, physical or mental.

Of course, you should complement the technique with other things like rest, drinking water etc, which will address the underlying source of the heaviness.